The ‘Tik Tok’ hitmaker has experienced bullying both as a young girl and on social media and says the “amount of body-shaming and baseless slut-shaming online” makes her “sick”.

She said: “When I think about the kind of bullying I dealt with as a child and teen, it seems almost quaint compared with what goes on today. The amount of body-shaming and baseless slut-shaming online makes me sick. I know from personal experience how comments can mess up somebody’s self-confidence and sense of self-worth. I have felt so unlovable after reading cruel words written by strangers who don’t know a thing about me.

“It became a vicious cycle: When I compared myself to others, I would read more mean comments, which only fed my anxiety and depression. Seeing paparazzi photos of myself and the accompanying catty commentary fuelled my eating disorder. The sick irony was that when I was at some of the lowest points in my life, I kept hearing how much better I looked. I knew I was destroying my body with my eating disorder, but the message I was getting was that I was doing great.”

And the 30-year-old singer has decided to “change her relationship” with social media and take more breaks from the site in order to preserve her own happiness.

Writing for Teen Vogue magazine, she added: “You have to figure out what makes you feel good and what keeps you in a positive head space. This is one reason why I’ve changed my relationship with social media. I love it because it’s how I communicate with my fans – and nothing means more to me than my fans – but too much of it can exacerbate my anxiety and depression.

“This year I made a pledge to take more breaks from social media and screens and spend more time in nature. For me, some of the most therapeutic experiences include hiking up a mountain or riding a bike by the beach. Being among animals in their natural habitats reminds me that my problems are so small. Our lives are no more significant than the lives of any other animals. We’re all just animals, after all!”